Destruction of Midland Circle
: "The only way to end this, to save the city from whatever's coming, is to bring this building down. So unless there are any objections, then that's exactly what we're gonna do." : - Daredevil The Destruction of Midland Circle was a successful operation endeavoured by the Defenders, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight and Claire Temple in order to rescue Danny Rand, who had been taken prisoner by the Hand, as well as to prevent the Hand from harvesting the Resurrection Elixir. As the building fell Daredevil stayed behind to appeal with Elektra, his former girlfriend and the leader of the Hand. Following the demolition, the Defenders were convinced that Daredevil was dead, although the crime-fighter survived the attack and was placed under the care of his mother. Background The Defenders began to strategize a plan after Sowande revealed that the Hand desired the Iron Fist. Though Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Matt Murdock agreed that it was best to hide him and take him out of the fight, Danny Rand protested, saying that what Sowande told them was only his way of dividing them. Despite his efforts to reason, Murdock and Cage were forced to fight a hostile Rand. Producing a shockwave that stunned everyone in the room, Jones knocks Rand unconscious and carried him deeper in the abandoned building. Stick delivered the severed head of Sowande to the penthouse, which stirs further fears of the Hand's impending demise. Alexandra Reid, however, continued to press that they would make it through with their plans and that the death of a Finger would not stop them, even adding that the Black Sky would continue to impress. Madame Gao spoke with Reid alone in her room, pushing for her to rethink her plans; when she showed not to budge away from the Black Sky, Gao and Murakami plotted to have her removed. Regaining conscious, Rand tried to reason with Cage into letting him free and that the Hand were only trying to deceive them. Afterwards, the two conversed amongst one another; Cage turned to Stick, whom had lit some incenses and claimed it was for meditation. Inhaling the smoke, he gradually became sedated and collapsed. Stick slowly approached the Iron Fist, Rand begging him not to, while Stick was ready to kill him before the Hand could collect him. Before he was able to strike, Elektra emerged at the scene and clashed against Stick. The two fought fiercely, Elektra knocking Stick to the ground. As she was ready to kill him, Murdock entered the room and attempted to persuade Elektra that she was not whom they taught her to be. However, she murdered him with her sword, leaving Murdock and Jones to fend her away from Rand. Cage awakened and tried to defeat her as well but was unsuccessful. With an unconscious Rand, she had cut the ropes that bound him to the chair, escaped through the window, and carried the body directly to Reid, whom was about to duel with Murakami. Scolding her supposed allies on them underestimating her leadership, Reid ordered the Black Sky to kill Cage, Jones, and Daredevil. Unbeknownst to her, Elektra grabbed her sai blades and pierced through Reid's body, telling her that now she is the leader of the Hand. Destruction of Midland Circle Rand and Elektra Reaching the base of the cavern beneath Midland Circle, Elektra carted Rand closer to the barrier that blocked what the Hand sought. There, she explained to Rand what the obstruction was and how she skewed away from her destiny, tempting Rand to do the same. However, the two engaged in a duel. Rand decided to summon the Iron Fist and continued the fight, only for Elektra to clutch his fist and destroy the blockage, revealing dragon bones buried deeper underneath New York City. An Altercation Above Having escaped the 29th Precinct Police Station, Jones, Cage, and Murdock - who had recostumed into Daredevil - travelled back to Midland Circle to rescue Rand. Through a back entrance, they were confronted by Madame Gao, Murakami, and Bakuto, waiting for their arrival. After a brief converse, the three fought, Jones and Cage against Gao, while Murdock juggled Murakami and Bakuto. Though both were feeling pinned and too easily overpowered by Gao, they managed to knock her to the ground. Murdock was evenly matched by both opponents but was briefly assisted by Colleen Wing, whom fended off Bakuto. In an effort to retreat, an exposed pipe released a flammable gas, Bakuto utilising his katana to set it ablaze through a spark. Gao, Murakami, and Bakuto left the area; Cage covered the fire with his hand and bent the pipe closed. After everyone recollected, Cage questioned Wing's presence, her response expecting gratitude for her help. Wing and Bakuto As the Defenders set out deeper into the caverns to fight the Hand and rescue Rand, Wing and Temple carried the interior map of Midland Circle and the bombs stolen from the evidence locker. As they studied the document, they placed each bomb at the base of a few support columns. However, the two were met with the arrival of Bakuto, taunting that he knew Wing was there and wanted to talk. Wing then attacked Bakuto as the two began clashing swords. The pair continued fighting around the boiler room, as Bakuto mockingly told Wing to not bother wearing herself out, he proved by landing a hard kick on Wing's stomach, knocking her back. Bakuto managed to slash her across the back. While Wing remained on her feet, she and Temple were assisted by Misty Knight who had arrived on the scene. Knight ordered him to drop his sword. When he refused, Knight fired several shots into Bakuto's chest. Bakuto was able to brush off the gun shots before he managed to subdue Knight while she was reloading before returning to his duel with Wing. Bakuto claimed that her desire within was the reason why he had saved and raised her. Bakuto then subdued Wing before holding Temple's throat between his swords. Knight then charged in to aid Temple, resulting in Bakuto slicing off Knight's right arm. While Knight then fell to the floor, Wing had charged forward and attacked Bakuto. Wing had managed to steal her own sword back from Bakuto before cutting his throat with it. While Bakuto stood in horror at his student gaining the upper hand, Wing took her moment to end their fight by slicing off Bakuto's head with a single swing with her sword. Defenders vs. Hand The Defenders arrive at the bottom of the caverns to battle the Hand led by Elektra beneath the tunnels of Midland Circle. During their battle, their allies, Colleen Wing, Claire Temple and Knight managed to set explosives to cause a cave-in beneath the building. Murdock chose to stay behind to keep Elektra at bay and tried to save her as the rest of the team made their escape, before they left he told Rand to keep New York safe. He didn't succeed in time to escape as the explosion caused the Midland Circle Building to collapse and he was presumed dead. Aftermath Despite being caved in with Elektra, Daredevil was separated from her and fell into a body of water, where he was sucked into a whirlpool that took him to the sewers, allowing him to escape, albeit bleeding and unconscious. After being found by a Taxi driver, he later woke up in a nunnery under the care of his mother.8 Unaware of this, the Defenders mourned the apparent death of Murdock along with Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Luke Cage was not arrested as the NYPD filed no reports regarding the incident at Midland Circle. Jessica Jones was assured by Luke Cage that if she needed allies she could call on him, Jones then returned to her career as a private investigator and reopened Alias Investigations with Malcolm Ducasse. Danny Rand decided to honour his vow to Matt Murdock of protecting New York City by following the example Murdock had led as Daredevil by becoming New York's newest resident vigilante by fighting crime at night. Colleen Wing refused to get involved in any more conflict following the Midland Circle incident and she hung up her sword and started volunteering in a Bayard Community Centre. Claire Temple helped Misty Knight's recovery. Category:Events